Origins of faith

Faith is a gift from God himself and is not to be seen as the result of human striving or achievement. Faith is inspired by the word and works of God.

Notes & Transcripts | Handout

Joke - An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout "PRAISE THE LORD!"
Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, "There ain't no Lord!!"
Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted "PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!"
The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, "PRAISE THE LORD."
The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, "Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn't."
The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, "PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!"

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Recap from last week :

1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

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Eros - Love between a man and a women.

Eros - Love between a man and a women.

Phileo - Love between friends. Brotherly love.

Agape - Love that is deep, abiding and self - sacrificing and looks out for the other person first.

Love enriches.

Love edifies.

Love endures.

We talked about how your actions will always speak louder then your words. So let your actions speak and not just your words.

See show me a man who loves his neighbor and I’ll show you a man who truly loves God.

Maturity in Christ will cause you to look past enemies short comings.

See the love of God in us, is what draws those around us to Christ be it enemy of friend.

You cannot love God without loving Christ our savior. Fall in love with God everyday as he loves His son and His son teaches us to love with the love of God through the Holy Spirit.

True love begins with loving God and it will transcend to loving all.

Jesus sacrificed himself because of the love he had for us, how simple is it for us to die to our pride and become more like Him.

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So what is faith?

Ephesians 2:8–9 NLT

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

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John 6:63–65 NLT

The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

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1 Corinthians 12:9 NLT

The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.

Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

Philippians 1:29 NLT

For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

1 Corinthians 4:7 NLT

For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?

Matthew 16:15–17 NLT

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.

Matthew 16:15–17 NLT

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.

Acts 3:16 NLT

“Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.

Philippians 1:29 NLT

For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

James 2:5 NLT

Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?

Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

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Message says: The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.

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The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.

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About 3-4 years before I returned back to Michigan I was in a dark place where I felt like God was not with me and I even began to question if he really existed. I would wake up in the morning and as my family left to go to work and school I would sit in my office and ask God to reveal himself to me. None of this, what I would call peep rally stuff. I wanted a real experience! I would call people in my life whoI knew would let me challenge them on God and wouldn’t look at me like I was crazy. I really wanted a mountain top experience and I wasn’t going to let up until I had one. Then one day the Lord gave it to me. Then you know the rest of the story about the house We lived in for that time being. But what’s interesting when I look back on it, God was really showing me the mountain tops all along, I just couldn’t see it because I was already on top of the mountains.

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Things always look a whole lot different from another view, but when you are at the wrong position you really can’t tell what your looking at.

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a particular kind of matter with uniform properties

If your flying in a plane at 30 thousand feet over a city you don’t know what that city is because your in the wrong position to distinguish the details, but when you come in for a landing things become a whole lot clearer.

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See there is story a Minister a Rabbi and a Priest who were all fishing buddies and one day as they sit in their little boat fishing, the minister get’s up and says he’s going to the bathroom he’ll be right back, he gets out the boat and walks to the rest room a few moments later he comes back and gets in the boat, not long after that the Rabbi has to use it as well so he does the same exact thing, with the same results. Well not going to be out done the Priest decides he has as much faith as the both of them and so he decided to get on out and walk on water as well, jumping out the boat the Priest went straight down into the water flapping like a fish. The Minister looked at the Rabbi and stated , I guess we could’ve told him where the rocks were.

See that’s not faith, that’s just common sense, pay attention to the details.

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Your faith brings forth the details, and that’s where God lives. in the details.

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See that’s not faith, that’s just common sense, pay attention to the details.

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There is something fundamentally beautiful about not knowing what God has planned next for you, but it’s also scary. It’s letting go and letting God. That’s not how we are wired because of our sin nature. We like to now what God is going to do next, but in reality we don’t know and this is why the bible says:

There is something fundamentally beautiful about not knowing what God has planned next for you, but it’s also scary. It’s letting go and letting God. That’s not how we are wired because of our sin nature. We like to now what God is going to do next, but in reality we don’t know and this is why the bible says:

Matthew 6:26 NLT

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?

Matthew 6:26

See there is story a Minister a Rabbi and a Priest who were all fishing buddies and one day as they sit in their little boat fishing, the minister get’s up and says he’s going to the bathroom he’ll be right back, he gets out the boat and walks to the rest room a few moments later he comes back and gets in the boat, not long after that the Rabbi has to use it as well so he does the same exact thing, with the same results. Well not going to be out done the Priest decides he has as much faith as the both of them and so he decided to get on out and walk on water as well, jumping out the boat the Priest went straight down into the water flapping like a fish. The Minister looked at the Rabbi and stated , I guess we could’ve told him where the rocks were.

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See that’s not faith, that’s just common sense, pay attention to the details.

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I love what the author Watchman Nee says in his book Back to The Cross.

Faith is drawing money from a bank, someone gives you a check, they have money in this bank. That is a fact, If now you will go out and with draw that money, it shows that you admit there is money in that bank and you do this in faith. You have confidence.

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Faith is to confess that all which God has said and done is true, faith is accepting the fact and taking it as factual.

Faith is a gift from God

Faith is a gift from God

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Ephesians 2:8–9 NLT

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

John 6:63–65 NLT

The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

Ephesians 2:8–9 NLT

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

In 1958, America’s first commercial jet air service began with the flight of the Boeing 707. A month after that first flight, a traveler on a piston-engine, propeller-driven DC-6 airliner struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger. The passenger happened to be a Boeing engineer. The traveler asked the engineer about the new jet aircraft, whereupon the engineer began speaking at length about the extensive testing Boeing had done on the jet engine before bringing it into commercial service. He recounted Boeing’s experience with engines, from the B-17 to the B-52.

When his traveling companion asked him if he himself had yet flown on the new 707 jet airliner, the engineer replied, “I think I’ll wait until it’s been in service awhile.”

Even enthusiastic talking about our faith doesn’t mean much if we aren’t also willing to put our lives where our mouth is.

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Unless you exercise your faith like you do your body, it will become weak and atrophied which will eventually lead to death spiritually.

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Faith comes through God’s word

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Faith following a direct word from God

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Exodus 14:15 NLT

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!

Moses receives God’s instructions at the Red Sea

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Acts 27:23–25 NLT

For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.

Joshua 6:2–5 NLT

But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”

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Joshua receives God’s instructions concerning Jericho

Moses receives God’s instructions at the Red Sea;

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Joshua receives God’s instructions concerning Jericho;

Hebrews 11:29–30 NLT

It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned. It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.

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Your faith in God provides for you. But you must put the action into motion to receive the blessings.

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Faith through the Scriptures

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John 2:22 NLT

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.

John 20:30–31 NLT

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

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2 Timothy 3:15 NLT

You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

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Your faith in God provides for you. Your encouragement come from His Word, the Bible.

Your faith in God provides for you. Your encouragement come from His Word, the Bible.

Your faith in God provides for you. Your encouragement come from His Word, the Bible.

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Faith comes through hearing God’s Word

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Romans 10:14–17 NLT

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

See also ; ; ; ; ; ;

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1 Corinthians 2:4–5 NLT

And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

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Faith comes through miracles of God

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John 14:11 NLT

11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

See also the miracle at the wedding feast; Jesus Christ heals an official’s son.

During the terrible days of the Blitz, a father, holding his small son by the hand, ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb. In the front yard was a shell hole. Seeking shelter as soon as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow.

The father, looking up against the sky tinted red by the burning buildings, called to the silhouette of his son, “But I can see you. Jump!”

The boy jumped, because he trusted his father.

The Christian faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen; not that we know all the answers, but that we are known.

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No matter where you are at in your life and no matter how you may feel about what God is or is not doing. Really look at you life, ask the real questions about how He has truly blessed you and taken care of you and provided for you. We are human and we are going to sometimes loose hope and thus that causes us to loose faith, but like the father who had his outstretched hands to catch his son, so God has his for us, to catch us and pull us in and cuddle us with his almighty strong arms. Because he cares for us and loves us. Don’t let the devil fool you into thinking that God has forgotten you, The bible tells us that He (God) will neither leave us or forsake us and that my friends is the greatest gift of faith that gives us everyday. His faith of love for us.